I want to keep this blog PG13 so I’m not going to go into the name origins of this recipe. Let’s just say that this is a dish for busy people who want to throw something together that’s fast and easy to make.
Puttanesca is rich and salty, the result of the magical alchemy that occurs when anchovies are melted into sizzling hot olive oil. Because of its richness, I recommend pairing this sauce with a lighter macaroni. I have, in the past, mentioned my fondness for the tunnel spaghettis such as Bucatini (see Rocco’s Spaghetti Alley Oop) or Perciatelli. The two are essentially the same. If you cannot get either of these varieties then thin spaghetti or thin linguini will do just fine.
Plan to make this quick and easy dish on a cold and blustery Sunday evening and maybe you’ll have a little time for a nap in the afternoon.
What You’ll Need
1 pound of Bucatini or Perciatelli (or any thin spaghetti)
1 – 2 ounce tin of flat anchovy fillets
4 cloves of garlic, sliced thin
1 – 26 ounce can or jar of tomato sauce
¾ of a cup of sliced black olives
2 tablespoons of capers – or – ½ cup of sliced green olives (but not both)
1 teaspoon of hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Dried parsley flakes
Olive oil
Ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
What to Do
Fill a large pot with clean cold water and put a high heat under it.
Pour a couple of good glugs of olive oil into a medium sauce pot. Add the garlic, anchovy fillets, and the hot red pepper flakes to the pan and put a medium heat under it. Put a sizzletation on those bad boys, frying them until the garlic is browned and the anchovies have disintegrated (mash the anchovies around in the oil with the back of a wooden spoon if you want to speed things up a little).
Add the jar of tomato sauce, the sliced black olives and the capers (or green olives) to the pot with the garlic-oiled anchovies and give a good stir. Add black pepper to taste. Bring it to a soft boil then reduce the heat and let simmer on low while you cook the spaghetti.
When the large pot of water comes to a rolling boil add a generous pinch of salt and your spaghetti and stir it all in good. DO NOT REDUCE THE HEAT. Note the time.
Cook the spaghetti on high heat, stirring frequently. Test for doneness at the 5 minute mark and every minute thereafter until it is just a little south of crunchy.*
When the spaghetti is done, ladle out one ladle full of the starch water into a small bowl. Now drain the spaghetti in a colander and then immediately return it to the pot. Dump your puttanesca sauce and the reserved starch water onto the cooked spaghetti. Shake a little of the dried parsley over it then mix thoroughly so that the olives and capers are mixed throughout rather than hiding out under the spaghetti. Serve hot. Pass around the Parmesan.
Makes 4 generous servings: My cost Approx. $ 6.00 total – about $ 1.50 per serving.
* Spaghetti will continue to soften even after you remove it from the hot water. It will continue to soften
while it’s getting sauced. It will continue to soften while it waits for you to eat it. So don’t worry too much
about under-cooking macaroni, worry instead about over-cooking it – which is an abomination. GMN